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Publishers Weekly (@PublishersWkly) senior news editor Calvin Reid (@calreid) says, “Despite the constant economic pressures on a book publishing industry in the midst of change, the Digital Book World conference (#dbw12) [that ended yesterday in New York City] offered a snap shot of a range of industry positions and best practices as it comes to grips with digital delivery.... the book industry is indeed reinventing itself on a daily basis.”

There are more electronic reading devices, some 60 million e-readers and tablets, in the hands of consumer and there are more ways to buy books, read them, and talk about them, than ever before. “Books today are elastic and dynamic,” said Hyperion president Ellen Archer.

Read this in full.

Reid also reports

The transition to digitization continues in book publishing, an industry that is both susceptible to digital disruption, but also positioned to benefit tremendously from it, according to Forrester Research analyst James McQuivey (@jmcquivey) who kicked off this year's Digital Book World conference. That said, a survey conducted by Forrester in collaboration with Digital Book World found that while 82% of publishers were optimistic about digital, the number was down from 89% last year. Indeed only 28% of those thought their own company would be stronger in the future, down from 51% last year.

The decline has a lot to do with a realization of hard work ahead for publishers to adapt to the new digital environment, according to McQuivey.

Other stats:

·         25 million people in the US own an e-reader

·         34 million people own tablets

·         8 million homes have at least 2 tablets.

·         75% of publishers have an executive level person responsible for digital

·         63% of publishers report that digital skills are formally integrated into all departments

·         69% of publishers expect to increase digital staffiing in 2012

·         22% expect overall company staffing to go down in 2012.

·         75% of the publishers surveyed produce apps, but 51% said they cost too much to produce; only 19% believe apps will change the future of books and 15% say apps represent significant revenue for them.

Read this in full.

PW’s news editor Gabe Habash (@gabehabash) writes

Perhaps the most eye-opening facet of a study on the children's ebook market discussed at a Digital Book World panel was how great the potential for ebook reading in children really is:

·         27% of 7-12-year-olds own their own computer

·         25% own a cell phone

·         7% own a reading device.

·         teens have tripled their reading rate of ebooks in the last year.

Read this in full.

Ron Hogan (@RonHogan) reports that Shelf Awareness’ (@ShelfAwareness) editor-in-chief John Mutter (@JohnMutter) moderated a panel on “The Bookstore Renaissance” where it was stressed that bookstores must stay relevant. Roxanne Coady of R.J. Julia Booksellers (Madison, Conn.) (@rjjulia) talked about the recently launched JustTheRightBook.com (@JTRBook), which offers subscribers a monthly book selection based on a personal review of their reading tastes — “the opposite of the wisdom of crowds,” she quipped.

Coady elaborated on how the site’s “human algorithm” drew on one of their biggest strengths as booksellers: “We know how to put the right book in the right hands,” she said, “and we are early discoverers.” She noted that 67% of the visitors to the site who took their quiz wound up buying or borrowing one of the recommended titles (though not always from R.J. Julia).

Read this in full.

Also see DBW conference coverage by paidContent (@paidContent), especially its article about e-singles (and its “guide to e-singles”).

Read Porter Anderson’s (@Porter_Anderson) conference wrap-up on the Jane Friedman site (@JaneFriedman).

See GalleyCat's (@galleycat) coverage.

See DBW’s (@DigiBookWorld) own coverage of the show at “Video: Seen and Heard at Digital Book World.”

And see conference photos.

Stay current with news about the publishing world by bookmarking Somersault’s (@smrsault) SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

On mediabistro’s (@Mediabistro) AllTw!tter (@alltwtr), Shea Bennett (@Sheamus) writes:

A couple of years back Kevin Kelly (@kevin2kelly) wrote an excellent piece that argued that a person only needed to acquire 1000 true fans to make a living. Kelly expanded on the concept of the true fan, outlining exactly what makes them tick.

They will drive 200 miles to see you sing. They will buy the super deluxe re-issued hi-res box set of your stuff even though they have the low-res version. They have a Google Alert set for your name. They bookmark the eBay page where your out-of-print editions show up. They come to your openings. They have you sign their copies. They buy the t-shirt, and the mug, and the hat. They can’t wait till you issue your next work. They are true fans.

And on that total, he says:

One thousand is a feasible number. You could count to 1,000. If you added one fan a day, it would take only three years. True Fanship is doable. Pleasing a True Fan is pleasurable, and invigorating. It rewards the artist to remain true, to focus on the unique aspects of their work, the qualities that True Fans appreciate.

I’d argue (and often do) that you don’t actually need as many as one thousand. I think for start-up brands (and artists and entrepreneurs) aiming for 50 true fans is a worthwhile exercise. As those 50, if they’re nurtured and respected accordingly, will tell their friends. Who will tell their friends. Who will tell their friends. All of a sudden, you’ll have your 1000 true fans – and shortly after that, a heck of a lot more.

Read this in full.

The Infographic below by Kissmetrics (@KISSmetrics) offers tips on how to grow your fan base:

1. Define your target market.
2. Get the tone right.
3. Identify which types of engagement are effective.
4. Look at it as a long-term investment.
5. Keep it real, relevant, and relaxed.
6. Create a schedule for updates.
7. Monitor and measure.

Source: The Importance Of A Fan Base Infographic

On Publishing Perspectives (@pubperspectives), Drew Nellins writes about the offense he took when he was presented with a fully stuffed publicity kit promoting a book by an author he likes. It raises the question, “When does zealous publicity information oversell and actually become a detriment?”

...It didn’t come with a page or two of information about the author or the book itself. No, it came with a folder overflowing with material, the contents of which I would like to share with you....

Now, imagine opening a folder, and the second you open it, pages spew out of it like fake snakes from a can of gag peanut brittle, because the folder is so overstuffed that no matter how great its quality (and its quality is pretty damn great) this volume of pages simply cannot be contained by this folder. Now dial that image back a few notches, and you’ve got a pretty close approximation of what we have here. A brief inventory included therein follows:....

I think the reason the “Folder of Acclaim” bothered me so much is that, taken in total, it arguably leaves the realm of standard corporate supportiveness and enters the terrifying realm of intellectual bullying....

I don’t want to have books marketed to me the way that Hot Wheels are marketed to eight-year-old boys. You don’t have to show me images of other kids crashing their cars and smashing them into one another. Just give me the toy already, and if I have fun with it, then I have fun with it. Sheesh! It all just seems so... aggressive....

Read it in full.

What do you think? Do you agree? How do you keep from crossing the line in creating publicity that might be over-the-top? Write your comments below.

This article in GigaOM (@gigaom) by Trey Ratcliff (@TreyRatcliff), founder of FlatBooks and the travel photography blog Stuck In Customs (@StuckInCustoms), says, “The ebook business will grow faster than people think. Innovations from Amazon and Apple have increased the velocity at which we consume ebooks, but there are two emergent behaviors that will increase the rate of overall consumption.”

Emergent behavior 1: Ebooks are not 1-for-1 with the traditional book business.

Most ebook projections are wrong. They anticipate for every $1 billion lost in the traditional book business that $1 billion will be gained in the ebook business. This ratio is actually closer to 1-to-2 because people are collecting ebooks like nuts for the winter. They are easy to buy and download, much like music. And, frankly, it’s fun to fill up your iPad with a colorful, robust set of thumbnails in your library. I don’t know why this is a good feeling, but it is.

Emergent behavior 2: Social media is a marketing multiplier.

The best way to successfully market something is to have true believers with big followings talk about it on the Internet. Since we have many authors who are socially popular, a multiplier effect begins to take place....The spread of good books has always been a word-of-mouth phenomenon. Now, with social media, ebooks are word-of-mouth-on-steroids.

Read this in full.

As ebooks grow, a concurrent problem will need to be addressed. Read paidContent's (@paidContent) "Why Amazon's Plagiarism Problem Is More Than A Public Relations Issue," by Jeff Roberts (@jeffjohnroberts) and Laura Hazard Owen (@laurahazardowen).

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you identify blue ocean strategy for your ebook publishing agenda.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily SomersaultNOW, the online dashboard especially for marketing and publishing executives.

Infographic by Salesforce (@salesforce).

Because Somersault (@smrsault) is interested in effectively communicating messages, whether it’s a subject line on an email message, a day-long seminar, or a long-term branding campaign, we’re sharing with you this video that poignantly demonstrates what NOT to do when attempting to reach an audience during a presentation. It’s produced for Habitudes For Communicators by Tim Elmore (@TimElmore), president of Growing Leaders (@GrowingLeaders). Can you relate to it? ☺

Let Somersault help you clearly communicate your message (your content) to your audience.

Book lover Sean Ohlenkamp (@ohkamp), an associate art director at Lowe Roche (@loweroche), spent 4 nights at independent Canadian bookstore Type Books (@typebooks) shooting this whimsical stop-motion video tribute to books.

The above video was inspired by the one below, which Ohlenkamp and his wife created last year with the books in his home.

Read The Huffington Post (@HuffPostCanada) story in full.

Bookmark and use daily our (@smrsault) SomersaultNOW online dashboard, designed for book lovers.

For SmartBlog on Social Media, Jesse Stanchak (@SBoSM) analyzes the 1965 TV classic, A Charlie Brown Christmas, and suggests the same reasons for its longevity and continued popularity can be applied to online content that’s intended to go viral:

·         It has an amateur vibe.

·         It has a strong point of view.

·         It tackles a persistent problem.

·         It builds on existing work.

·         It makes its point quickly.

Read this in full.

Also see our previous blogpost, “Infographic: Understanding Viral Content Marketing.”

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you set your social media marketing strategy.

The very same non-economic contribution is going on online, every single day. More and more of the content we consume was made by our peers, for free. My take:

People like the way it feels to live in a community filled with decorated houses. They enjoy the drive or the walk through town, seeing the lights, and they want to be part of it, want to contribute and want to be noticed too.

Peace of mind and self-satisfaction are incredibly valuable to us, and we happily pay for them, sometimes contributing to a community in order to get them.

The Internet is giving more and more people a highly-leveraged, inexpensive way to share and contribute. It doesn't cost money, it just takes guts, time, and kindness.

No wonder most people don't insist on getting paid for their tweets, posts, and comments.

Read this in full.

Infographic by Voltier Digital (@VoltierDigital).

Also see our previous posts about viral marketing: “A Giant Wood Xylophone” and “Messiah and Viral Video.”

What viral marketing can Somersault (@smrsault) help you with?